Blog #10 Reading Burnout

Reading has always been a relaxing pastime of mine. As a child I would read any chance I could get. Get home from school? Go lay in my bed with a new book and just read for hours. Any free time at school? I would pull out a book and read. Sometimes I’d even read in between classes as I walked across campus. I read Harry Potter, the Eragon series, Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, and the Dresden Files. I just loved escaping into these worlds, and falling in love with the characters. I just needed that escape from real life.

     But it’s harder now that I’m an adult. Sometimes I can sit and read for hours. Just curled up in my comforter chair, with the small lamp on and just cozied up. Usually with a blanket, and a coffee, ready just to dive into the book I’m reading at that time (currently it’s A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah Maas). But other times, it’s like I get book burn out in my brain. The thought of sitting and focusing on something, is just too much for me to do. Because when I read a book, I succumb to the story, and delve into it and nothing else around me matters. But sometimes I can’t shut my brain off enough to sit and read. I don’t have it in me to sit and focus on the words and follow the story. 

     This happens more often if I’ve read a lot for a day or two. It’s like after some heavy reading I need a mental break. This is also more prominent if I’ve had some busy days, whether it be I’m busy running errands, or I’m busy doing mom activities with the kiddo. Even sometimes when my kid is on a playdate I can’t focus because my mind wanders to how much time I have alone or what she’s doing when she’s not home with me. This doesn’t happen when she’s at school, since it’s about 8 hours, I can usually focus on my reading for an hour or so.

     I think it’s also hard when I’m feeling burnout and I start to put pressure on myself to read. I’ll feel things like:

     “You’re being lazy”

     “You should really read”

     “You have an hour why aren’t you reading”

     “You should have finished that book already”

     It’s not even a matter of not being interested in the books I’m reading. I just need to be completely alone, with no distractions or needing to be ready to “mom” to sit and read. So usually it’s the weekdays when my daughter is at school. But even then the burnout hits me hard sometimes. I just want to veg out and watch trashy reality TV, and just do nothing. Reading is just too much in those moments, but watching Teen Mom for the millionth time and thinking nothing feels great.

     I do find the best way to combat this burnout is to identify when there are times I know I can’t read and times I can. So on the days I know I have time to read, I try to schedule my day so everything gets done and I have a time set aside just for reading. Now maybe I don’t take that time, maybe I’ve had an overwhelming day, but overall that time is set aside for if I do wish to read. The main point is to not pressure myself into reading, and just know I have some time.

          These are just my thoughts about reading burnout, and I’d love to hear from anyone else if they experience it and what they do to combat it.

Signing Off,

Fenisha Estes